90 remand prisoners benefit from “Justice for All” programme

The fate of 90 remand prisoners, locked up for years at the Sunyani Central Prisons, will soon be known, under the “Justice for All” programme.

The suspects have spent between three and 16 years on remand for various crimes including murder, manslaughter, armed robbery and fraud.

Justice for All is a programme initiated by the Attorney General and the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS) and aimed at ensuring that legal justice are provided for every citizen, irrespective of one’s social, economical and political background.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani on Thursday, Assistant Superintendent of Prisons (ASP) Austin Jones Ziem, Public Relations Officer of the Brong-Ahafo Regional Command of the GPS said five separate courts had been set-up within the prison premises to hear the cases.

They are being presided over by two judges each from the Appeals court, High court and Circuit court and hearing would be done in two days, he said.

ASP Ziem expressed concern about overcrowding at the Sunyani Central Prisons, noting that, instead of the designed capacity of 600 inmates, the prisons currently contained more than 800 inmates including 252 remand prisoners.

The Public Relations Officer added that similar programme was organized in 2010 and about 71 remand prisoners benefited.